Hear Hear! I’m sure everyone I know resonates with every point made by Nicholas and Karen in their Letter to the Editor 7.4.16:
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• businesses totally reliant on the Internet and phone service with no service
• Non-existent to intermittent Internet
• Banking and government services unavailable
• Several years of unfruitful interaction with all Telstra divisions
• Interaction with state and federal members of parliament, local shire council, the NSW Chambers of Commerce, the telecommunications ombudsman
• Hours on the phone trying to report faults, account issues, lack of service etc
• No access for people studying online
• Online entertainment a luxury not even able to be contemplated.
Telstra’s advice to write to members of parliament is outrageous given it is a commercial enterprise charging for a service it is not providing. When the Baldersleigh Phone and Internet User’s Group wrote to the Telecommunications ombudsman’s office we were informed it could only deal with an individual’s interactions with a service provider. But as your correspondents mentioned, Telstra’s lack of service provision in every aspect of its enterprise (accounts, connections, landline, mobile, Internet) is causing widespread distress and economic loss to many individuals trying to conduct online businesses and every day-to-day activity which relies on Internet services. Personally we had NO Internet service for ten days over the busiest period of our business year (22-31 March).
I cannot understand why the Federal government is not investigating the widespread dysfunctionality of all aspects of Australia’s major telecommunications provider given the negative impact it is having on businesses and individuals, regardless of its commercial status. As a nation we need to have Telstra answer the question: Why are basic services continuing to deteriorate?
No matter the personal inconvenience and trauma, it is critical to report every outage (132 200 for businesses). Keep records. Demand your rights to compensation provided for in the service level agreement if services are not restored in the agreed timeframe (three days for rural businesses and residents). Do not agree to any interim solution as you forfeit your right to compensation.
If anyone can suggest how to further escalate the pressure on Telstra to provide a timely solution to everyone’s communication needs, I will be pleased to assist.
Lynne Chapman
Baldersleigh
